Fall of Giants
by ElvenDovahkiin
Summary: Remy Hill almost died. And when she didn't, she found herself in the Mass Effect universe. She's stranded with no one she really knows, and she knows how the story she is now a part of ends.
1. Kansas

I've been learning the piano since I was six years old, learning the cello since I was eight and singing since forever. There's something about music that just captures me. I could spend _hours_ sitting, playing an instrument, and get completely lost in the sound, the language that is music.

I'm into soundtracks too, that's what I wanted to be for a while, a composer. Be able to create something like that had always been one of my dreams. But, that's not what my family wanted.

You'd be surprised how many times I've heard that it would take me nowhere. So no, I'm not going to be a composer, I'm going to be an engineer of some sort, because that's what my parents have decided for me. I mean, I am 19, but I still live with them, so it gets tricky when it comes to whether or not I'm adult enough to make my own decisions.

And I'm the baby of the family, no one wants me to leave the nest. Anyway, I did what my parents asked, enrolled in a top university, just like they had, and I got into an Engineering course at the University of Melbourne (yeah, I'm Australian).

I live a reasonable distance to the uni, so I usually run in, and that's what I was doing.

I had my headphones in, and was listening to the _Mass Effect_ soundtrack. I absolutely _adore_ those compositions, and in my opinion, they're pure genius. Listening to it made me all nostalgic about playing the games.

The song was blasting in my ears as the wind blew my hair from my face, I smiled softly as the song finished. Everything slowed down after that. I didn't see the car coming, just a white blur in my peripheral vision and I only heard the blood curdling screech of wheels breaking in desperation when it was too late. I turned my head, and everything slowed down.

My body froze as I felt my limbs suddenly become heavier, and my heart began to beat faster, an urgent crescendo telling me to _move._ But I couldn't.

The car, hurtling towards me never hit. At the moment of 'impact', I shut my eyes, waiting for the inevitable. But all that came was a less than severe force that knocked me over.

I hit the ground heavily, with my eyes still clamped shut, my body began to shake as I tightened my fists together. I struggled to breathe deeply before cautiously opening my eyes.

I gasped. The world was spinning around me as I tried to focus on something, _anything_ in front of me.

 _I must be dead._

I looked around: bright lights, water displays and... wait. A... a turian. I blinked unbelieving, as I looked to see another familiar species from the _Mass Effect_ games. With the aliens congregated, this place didn't look like some afterlife any more. It looked like the Citadel. I looked down at my hands. They were still shaking, more than before, and I couldn't stop my breathing from becoming much faster than was healthy. Taking even faster breaths now, I attempted to push myself off the ground, my limbs turning to jelly, unwilling to cooperate. I felt like screaming, crying, yelling, _anything_ , but my voice hitched in my throat as the wet feeling of tears caressed my cheeks. Part of me was yelling to _get up and stop looking like an idiot crying on the floor_ and another part was telling me to stay exactly there, until everything went back to normal. I wanted my mum, I felt childish for thinking that, but she made everything ok. I just wanted some sign this wasn't real. I let out a sob as I pushed the heel of my palms into my eyes. I gripped my arms, tightly hugging myself. My skin had gone cold and clammy and I had the sudden urge to vomit. Clamping my hand over my mouth before I could do such a thing, I slowly lent forward, causing the world to lurch around me. I was feeling dizzy and lightheaded, and the impulse to shut my eyes was becoming very appealing.

 _No. You have to stay awake._ I could hear my own voice yelling at me, leaving a transcendent echo to reverberate in my head. I cautiously placed one hand in front of me, and then the other, and used them to push myself off the ground. I stumbled slightly as I came to my feet, and met eyes with passer-by's giving me strange looks. I quickly swiped away the tears that were still falling down my face and sniffed.

Turning to my left, I could make out a fuchsia figure, an asari. I took a step closerand recognised her as Avina, the information VI.

 _Maybe I can get some answers from her._

"He-hello?" I stuttered as I made my way towards the glowing asari.

"Where am I?" I asked softly as the VI turned its holographic body towards me.

"You are located on the Citadel, the Presidium precint." The hologram replied. That much I'd guessed.

"Can you tell me what year it is?" I managed to say through laboured breaths, and a little louder than my previous question. Avina seemed to glow brighter before answering.

"The current year is 2182, date in human days: December 5th" the hologram replied.

 _I need to find a way home._

I nodded numbly and was combing my hands through my ponytail when Avina interrupted.

"You are not a registered Citadel resident, and do not have permitted allowance to be here. C-Sec has been alerted to your presence. Please stay in the vicinity." The hologram seemed to disregard my presence after that.

My hands were still shaking, and I still felt sick to my stomach.

 _What the hell is going on?_

I couldn't answer that.

I cast my eyes upward, taking in the panoramic view of the Citadel. It was mammoth in proportion to any structure I'd ever seen before, and a sense of vertigo washed over me as I looked up toward the ceiling of the Citadel.

It was surreal, but very much the reality I was now in.

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

 **A/N**

 **Thank you for reading please leave a review as they are helpful for future writing :)**


	2. Red tape

I stood rock still once Avina had powered off. I could hear my heart clammering in my ears. How the hell did I get here? Maybe I was having some sort of dream sequence, an effect of a car crash... one that never really happened. I closed my eyes once more, counted to ten an reopened them. I had to do something, if C-Sec really was coming here I had to figure something out. So, it was 2182, I had at least one month before _Mass Effect_ started, and being realistic, I probably had around three to four months at the most. So what was I going to do?

Fidgeting with my hands, I frantically looked around, if C-Sec was coming to get me, and if I was in the right area of the Citadel, maybe I could find Garrus and stick with him until he met up with Shepard. I decided I'd stay put until someone from C-Sec came to investigate the rogue human hanging about on the Citadel.

Being alone was not the optimal thing for me at this moment. My thoughts wondered into places that I wish they hadn't. Places that made me think about my family. The moment I started thinking about them, I wish I hadn't. You ever get the feeling when you think about something like infinity, or what happens after death? That's what it felt like, an emptiness where a seed of panic had been planted, and with that seed came fear. It was different for this though, I felt sick just thinking about them.

 _Will I ever see them again?_

It wasn't right, I'd seen them this morning. One moment they were with me, the next... my brother, my sister, my _family_ , snatched from me. And here I was. Standing in the middle of this strange place with no one I could talk to, and no one I knew. My chin started to tremble and I could feel a lump forming in my throat.

 _You will **not** cry. _ I found myself repeating in my head, and I may well have if my eyes didn't catch the navy blue and black colours of C-Sec. There was a human, one who looked supremely bored, and there was a turian with him, but it wasn't Garrus. Strange that they thought they'd need two officers to collect me. the human officer spotted me first, nudging his companion he nodded in my direction, and muttered something.

I stood, leaning against a Citadel bench. The turian towered over me, his arms crossed, and from what I could tell, a disinterested look on his face. A strange snarl came from him and I could feel my heart accelerating.

"Well?" The human said, raising his eyebrow at me. My eyes darted between the two of them.

"What?" I replied slowly, my confusion laced my words and the human rolled his eyes while the turian made another strange noise.

"He ast you a questin'" the human drawled.

 _Could he not have just repeated it?_

"I... I don't speak turian" I said, bewildered. Surely, not everyone knew turian.

"An' neither do I _sweetheart._ Do you not av' a translator?" The moment he said it, my brain clicked.

 _Ohhhh. Right, of course, I need a translator, and probably something techy, like an omni-tool._

I shook my head, the man's face changed from slight bored, to intrigued.

"That's... unusual." He said, before activating his omni-tool and tapping away at a message. "Right, well we're gonna take you down to customs, and they'll deal with you down there." The human said once he'd shut down his omni-tool. He reached out, grabbing my arm, and began pulling me towards what looked like an elevator. The turian followed after me, and the elevator doors sighed open. With a slight push, I walked into the spacious lift. Faint music could be heard, and despite myself and the situation I was in, I could feel the ghost of a smile on my lips.

I stood in the middle of the the turian and the human as they made conversation. Only half of which I could understand. It sounded _weird_ though. Little snippets of conversation left a lot to the imagination. The guy was saying something about krogan females and asari going against each other in a sporting match when the doors opened up.

The level down here had much dimmer lighting, and the air seemed thicker. Neon signs hugged the walls, and there were heaps of people coming and going. It looked like part of the C-Sec headquarters. It was overwhelming, seeing so many different species, and such grand structures as I walked past. I felt a little light headed, and the sudden halt in walking brought me back the the present (if it could be came present).

"This is where we leave ya, they'll set ya up with an officer an' he'll take you from there." Said the human, the turian said something short before turning and walking into a nearby office. The human made sure I got inside the door before leaving. I muttered a thanks, but I doubt he heard, he left so quickly.

Sitting at a desk in front of me, a woman ushered me forward. I cautiously took a few steps forward.

"Okay, so, first things first. It looks like you need an omnitool equipped with a translator, so if you'd come this way," she stood up and motioned towards yet another door. "We can get you all set up. Now we're not giving you a free one, but regarding your _situation,_ you'll pay it back with assistance to C-Sec. Community service if you will."

Leading me into what looked like a storage room, the woman pulled an omnitool out from a shelf and took my hand. I held it still while she attached the thing to my arm, despite my confusion at being here, I was excited to try the omnitool.

Once it was around my arm, she activated it, and briefly ran through the basics of operating it. Once she was done, she placed me in yet another room where I had to wait.

People meandered around me as I stood to the centre of the room, and finally, after what felt like forever, a turian man called me over.

He set up a scanner, similar to something you might see at an airport, and began checking my fingerprints, eyes and face with the scanner. Even I could tell it wasn't going too well, as a depressive beep would sound each time he was finished.

"Okay, you're not checking out, but you're clear of any diseases so that's good. I'm going to set you up with the officer who can get you set up on the Citadel, and he'll also be in charge of your reparations to C-Sec" the turian finished, leading me to a desk. Once he'd pinged my officer, I was told to sit in the chair by the corner. And that I did.

You should've seen my face when I found out who was assigned to me.

* * *

"Remy Hill, earthborn, 19 years old. Date of birth March 30th" I stated after Garrus Vakarian had tersely asked me who I was, and where I was from. He was _really_ pissed at being here, and it didn't take a genius to figure that out.

He nodded whilst his face twitched in agitation.

"Okay Hill you've been registered. And _now_ I'm stuck with you until you pay off some stupid debt to C-Sec." He grumbled. At least I could understand everyone now, no one could say things without me knowing.

"That wasn't very... complicated" I said, as Garrus began walking towards the elevator.

"Yeah, well I saved you a lot of time"

"By cutting through all the red tape?" I asked. Look, if Garrus hated bureaucracy and red tape, then so did I, at least until he wasn't trying to murder me with his eyes.

"Yes. By cutting through all the red tape." His mouth twitched upwards, for only a moment.

"Where are we going?" I asked, after an awkward silence had been left sitting to long.

"Chora's Den, and you're going to stay out of my way you hear me? I have unfinished business that would have been dealt with were it not for you... complicating things"

I nodded in response, if Garrus was touchy because he had a job to do, the sooner it was over, the better for me.

 **A/N:**

 **Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a review, constructive criticism is appreciated. And thank you for leaving reviews. I hope to make the upcoming chapters longer, and more eventful. This was helping to set the scene.**


	3. Thoroughly unimpressed

I was glad to have Garrus with me, I would've gotten lost long ago if he wasn't here with me. We didn't talk much which was unfortunate, as it gave me time to think. I felt sick to my stomach the more I thought about it. Either I was insane or something supernatural was happening. I wasn't sure which I preferred. Whether or not this was real, my homesickness was. The last thing I'd said to my parents was so insignificant and meaningless.

Garrus placed his talon in front of my body, signalling me to halt. We'd arrived outside Chora's Den and Harris pulled me to the side as other customers entered. He leaned forward and asked quietly.

"Can you handle a gun?" He moved his arm and detached a lightweight Assault Rifle. I shook my head, an started to explain but Garrus had already place it in my hands.

"Put it on your waist" he said before noticing I was still wearing my old clothes and they had nowhere to attach a gun. Rethinking, Garrus handed me a utility belt. It was lighter than it looks and sat comfortably on my waist.

"There's a mercenary in there who's been causing trouble for the homeless in the docks. He's also been up to illegal business things might get a little... chaotic in there, so be careful. Don't want to have your death on my hands kid." He said, slapping my back and pushing me forward.

* * *

The atmosphere in the club was dense and loud. Pink lights blazed erratically around the dance floor and the sound of patrons murmuring blended with the strong bass flowing from speakers. In short, this was not my scene. A hazy smoke made it harder to see so I moved myself to the edge of the room. I felt a sturdy body behind me and spun around, apologising.

"Sorry... I didn't..." I looked at the human males face, he looked so familiar.

"Eh no worries Lola" he said giving me a grin, his familiarity clicked as I was able to put a name to his face.

"I'm James, by the way." He continued smoothly, extending his hand. I accepted it before looking behind me.

"You haven't seen a turian go past have you? Has a lens over his eye." I inquired, raising my voice above the bass. James pointed over my shoulder and said something muffled by the music. I nodded and gave him my thanks before venturing into the mass of people.

"You never gave me your name!" He shouted after me, and I doubt he heard my reply. He'd sent me in the right direction however, and I soon sighted the silhouette of Garrus.

"Kid, where you been?" He asked gruffly, pulling me towards him. "We don't have time for this." He grumbled, dragging me towards a dimly lit corner in the club. It was easy to overlook as it was dwarfed by the sheer _presence_ of the centre of the club. It was a good hiding spot for a criminal.

Two large krogans loomed just outside a doorway, making me want to turn and run the other way. They eyed Garrus up until he pulled up some sort of documentation on his Omni-tool. From what I could tell, it held false information.

"The girl his with me." Garrus murmured when one krogan squinted at me.

"You stay in there for the time slot 'The King' gives you, any longer and we're coming in." He growled at us as he activated the lock for the door.

As we walked through together, I leaned towards Garrus.

"Who's 'The King'?" I whispered, glancing down the corridor. Garrus replied softly,

"A crime lord who's been on the Citadel only recently, the one I told you about. Never met him, some say he's a mutated krogan, guess we'll have to find out." Garrus sounded almost excited and I tried to keep my nerves down. Krogans were scary enough on their own, and I wasn't too keen on meeting a mutated one.

My heart started beating faster as we reached the end of the corridor. There lay a single door with a crown spray painted across it. Thankfully, there were no more krogan body guards, either 'The King' was too stupid to fortify his walls, or he didn't need them. I seriously hoped it was the former. Once we reached the door, it opened automatically and gave us a view into the room.

There was a table set up with some intense technology, I'm talking five to six computers, all scanning and going through information. And behind the desk, a single black chair. This encounter reminded me of something out of _The Godfather._ Garrus cleared his throat.

"Mr King? I believe we have some business to discuss" he said, detaching his gun from his waist. I placed my hand on my own gun and could feel my heart pulsing through my body.

The chair swivelled around startled, and I couldn't help the look of shock that washed across my face. A frightened gasp came from the volus sitting in the seat. I almost let out a small laugh. Garrus moved forward as the volus scrambled from his seat.

"Well... I'm thoroughly unimpressed." Garrus muttered, making his way to the volus.

"Please! Please don't hurt me! I'll give you anything!" He screamed as Garrus grabbed onto his suit.

"Anything? How about you stop terrorising the homeless and come into C-Sec HQ with me?" Garrus growled, "or, you could die here." He pushed his gun against the volus' head, causing a scream to emit from him.

"Please don't kill me! I'll come with you." The volus cowered, offering Garrus his hands. Shackling his hands Garrus leaned over to me.

"Destroy the terminals, anything you find that looks useful grab it."

I nodded, I could do this. Whilst the volus protested the destruction of his intel. I pulled the gun off my belt and aimed it at his desk, I've only shot a gun once in my life, on a farm, and I was not expecting the recoil. I still hit the desk though, breaking the terminals. I scrambled through the belongings on top of the desk that I hadn't blasted. My eye caught a fancy looking Omni-tool that I grabbed, and some sort of USB looking thing that I placed in my pocket. The rest was broken monitors.

The volus dismissed the two krogans who were stationed outside as we made our way through the crowded club.

* * *

I sat on top of one of the counters in C-Sec as Garrus dealt with the arrest of the volus crime lord. Once he was chucked into a cell, Garrus came over to me.

"That was too easy." Garrus muttered, and I couldn't help agree, it had been so simply, and very little action had ensued. I nodded.

"You find anything useful in his office?" Garrus asked, leaning against the counter.

"Actually yeah, can you help me put this on?" I asked quietly, handing him the Omni-tool. He inspected it before taking my arm and removing the old one, and replacing it.

"There you go, kid" He said, his tendrils twitching. "You don't talk much do you Remy?"

I smiled. "I'm not usually this quiet, I just..." My smile left my face as thoughts of my family started racing through my mind. It wasn't fair, I hadn't don't _anything_ to deserve this, and now here I was, stuck in some stupid place far away from the ones I loved most.

Anger raged through me, and Garrus must've noticed.

"I..uh... if there's something you need to talk about, I am here." He said softly and I raised my head to meet his eyes.

"Can I stay with you? I don't have anywhere to go." I said hastily, ignoring his question.

"It's nothing special, but you're welcome to stay for however long you need." Garrus replied warmly. I felt slightly better now that I wouldn't be alone for the night, as we made our way outside the C-Sec precinct, I forgot all about the small data disc that was being kept in my pocket.

 **Please leave a review, constructive criticism always welcome!**


	4. Aim

Garrus' apartment was cosy enough and thankfully he'd dealt with the problem of my clothes. Fashion had changed quite a bit (and possibly not for the best), but thankfully leather jackets were still in fashion. Garrus wanted me to have some type of protection, so he bought a lightweight set of armour. I felt horrible making him pay for my things, but he simply said I could pay it off by helping him.

The first thing I'd ask was if I could use his shower. It was like being in heaven, the water was the perfect temperature, and there was no one who could get angry at me for using up all the hot water. No parents, no siblings. No one.

I didn't really notice the tears at first, they meandered down my face and joined with the water, until I felt that familiar sting that accompanies loss. It wasn't fair. I hadn't gotten to say goodbye. If only I'd left a little later, I wouldn't have gotten hit by the car. If only I'd told my family how much I loved them, how much they meant to me. So many things I would never get a chance to ask. So many moments I would miss. If only...

I heard a soft knock on the door, and promptly turns off the water.

I cleared my throat before answering. "Yeah?" I sounded so feeble, but I didn't care anymore.

"I'll leave some towels outside, so you can dry off." Garrus said as I murmured my thanks. Sniffling, I turned off the water and grabbed the towels Garrus had left behind. I'd finished putting the new clothes on - they were snug enough- and was picking up my old when I heard a soft clink on the ground. Looking down I saw that strange data disk from the crime lords office. Questions started bubbling as I hastily scooped it off the ground.

"Garrus?" I called out optimistically, "I just remembered, I picked this up inside The King's office, it could have information on it."

Garrus edged from deeper in his apartment and beckoned me forward, complying, I handed him the chip.

"Here, see if it works on your omni-tool." Garrus lightly gripped my arm as the unique blue light emitted from my arm. My heart sunk when a beep signalled that a password was needed for the chip.

Hearing the noise, Garrus turned.

His tendrils twitched into a smile. "I can help you with that, I've been practicing my-"

"Calibrations?" I muttered. The expression on his face could only be described as one raising their eyebrow, but since he didn't have any, it was a little weird. I extended my arm towards him and he started fiddling with the Omni-tool. Several beeps signalled the succession of a password.

"Well," I exhaled, "that was quick." Lists of files were popping up on the interface and I scanned the titles. There were many items listed as 'projects' and I filtered through to the most recent.

Project Gemini.

Scanning through the files, the only information I could gather was a time and a location.

Garrus seemed ecstatic though, continually reiterating how important this was. In the file was listed a warehouse located on in the docking area of the Citadel. Thankfully, the date listed had not passed, meaning we could still appear at this rendezvous point.

"Warehouse D-43? Have you heard of it?" I quizzed Garrus. He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"It's listed as a private warehouse that was shut down a few years back, gaining access to it shouldn't be too hard though." He said, giving me a mischievous look.

"Wait... you're actually going through with this? This might have some serious repercussions." I couldn't keep the worry out of my voice and my inner rebel cringed at the words coming from my mouth.

 _Jeez, you sound like a grown up._

My response elicited a scoff from Garrus.

"Let's live a little, aren't you curious?" A light ignited in Garrus' eyes, his inner child breaking through his macho exterior. "The date is listed as tomorrow, hopefully news hasn't gotten out about the King's situation."

I swallowed the anxiety that was threatening to show itself. "Tomorrow?"

* * *

I hadn't slept well during the night, thoughts of my family had drifted through, accompanied by the uncertainty of what was going to happen today. Changing into the clothes Garrus had supplied me with I mentally prepared myself for today's events. Garrus handing me a gun hadn't helped settle my nerves at all. We begin making our way down to the warehouse district, I still wasn't used to seeing so many aliens in real life.

The walkways had gotten eerily quiet as we approached our destination, Garrus had suggested going through a back route to attract less attention and he'd been right, it had been mostly deserted the way through.

I was pulled from my train of thought when I collide with something hard, turned out it was Garrus. He signalled with his hands to be quiet and ushered me away from the centre of the walk. I saw what had startled him. Two large Krogan's were stationed outside the entrance, both carrying large guns.

"Are you ready?" Garrus asked, propping his gun up.

"No!" I hissed, "that will give us away." I scanned the area frantically, looking for a way around this.

"Can you climb?" I asked, pointing towards a broken window a story above us, metal rungs illuminating a path towards it. Garrus nodded, crouching as he made his way towards that makeshift ladder. My heart pumped louder and louder in my chest as I made my way up the ladder, my hands becoming clammy as I continued upwards.

When I made it to the top, I couldn't help but gasp. My hand flew to my mouth as I inspected the scene around me. Dozens and dozens of hospital like beds lined the perimeter of the warehouse, and as I looked at the occupants I had the sudden urge to throw up.

This wasn't some kind of free hospital. It was a harvesting ground.

Young children of multiple species lay on the beds, their limbs shackled to the beds as tubes and instruments lay next to them.

"Oh my _God_... Garrus, they're children!" I breathed hurriedly, my comment was accompanied by a nod from Garrus. However, he was diverting his attention elsewhere, in the corners of the room were stationed large armoured krogans and pacing through the middle of the beds was the largest Krogan I had seen yet.

That must be King. The real King.

"So what do we do, there's guards out the front too remember?" I whispered, leaning forwards towards Garrus.

"These warehouses come with in-built alarm systems, if you activate it manually, I can take out the four guards in the corner whilst you make the distraction, it has a locking system-"

"So that'll take care of the other guards then, they won't be able to come in?"

"Exactly," Garrus smiled, "then with both of us there we can take care of the _real_ King." I nodded in agreement, possibly not the most fool-proof plan, but it would get the job done.

I crept my ways towards the manual alarm system as I saw Garrus take aim at one of the guards. Activating the alarm, I slammed my hands to my ears, the shrill tone piercing my ears. The sounds of gun shots were masked by the alarm, but I saw the bodies fall to the ground. I began making my way towards Garrus, and my pace quickened to a run. I pulled the gun he'd given me from my hip and aimed it at the large Krogan preparing to barrel down Garrus. It missed. Horribly. But the krogan turned on his heel, locking eyes with me and letting out a large growl. My eyes widened as I turned and began running the other way, I turned to see his body, lifeless on the ground. A triumphant Garrus standing over his body.

* * *

Other officers had arrived from C-Sec, some annoyed that the King could not be taken into custody, yet they were grateful for the crime lords end. I stood silently next to Garrus as the children were accompanied out from the warehouse.

"What's going to happen to them?" I queried as I watched a small human boy make his way to the exit.

"They'll be taken to an orphanage, most of them were homeless, taken off the streets for organ harvesting." Garrus sounded sick saying it, and his words made my blood run cold.

"So where to now Boss?"

"Well kid," he clapped me on the shoulder, "your debts been repaid, you're free to go home now." The silence that accompanied left an awkwardness hanging in the air.

"You... you don't have a home do you?" Garrus' brow furrowed.

"No, not anymore." I tried not to sound so dramatic, but it was the truth, I didn't have anywhere left to go.

He sighed comically. "Well then, looks like you can stay with me." He twitched his tendrils, "But just until you get up on your feet."

I beamed and felt the urge to hug him. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Hey, maybe we can work on your aim?" He smirked before letting out a low chuckle.


	5. Vega

Things were starting to settle down for me, and a sense of routine had revealed itself in my life. Keeping busy helped take my mind off the unsettling and upsetting events that had disrupted my life. And boy did Garrus have me busy. Nearly every day was spent at the C-Sec shooting facility, hours spent refining my aim. And any extra moment I had was spent helping Garrus with case work. Thankfully, nothing as severe as the warehouse ordeal had come up. Yet.

I was currently making my way towards C-Sec HQ after receiving a message from Garrus. I hadn't wandered much further than Garrus' apartment and C-Sec as the prospect of the Citadel was still daunting, but I had found a neat little hole in the wall that served snacks for human and turian alike.

"Finally, you're back, I was beginning to hope you'd been taken." Garrus stated dryly as I rapped on the door to his office. I gave him a plastered smile before rolling my eyes.

"Oh ha ha, very funny." Feigning hurt, I dumped the bag of dextro food on his desk. I'd had to visit an abundance of clinics over the past weeks due to my immune system not being able to handle the food and atmosphere. I'd had a lot of vaccinations too.

"So what are we up to today?" I said leaning over his shoulder. My heart clenched tightly when I read the contents of his terminal and my body automatically took in a deep breath of air. What happened next was strange to say the least, it was like I became self-aware, almost as if I could be certain that this _was_ reality because when I read the name _Saren Arterius,_ the gears in my head wouldn't stop spinning. It was a News outlet speculating about Saren and as I read onwards, information regarding Eden Prime began to pop up.

"I've been asked to investigate Saren, the council's top Spectre." Garrus began, facing me and holding my gaze, "and I want you to come with me. Kid, you've proved resourceful, and even though you haven't told me anything substantial I know you don't really have anyone but me. But, this looks more serious than anything else we've done and if you want to back out now, you can." He finished and there was a faint gleam in his eyes. Hope? I didn't know.

"You're right. You're... all I have." It felt strange saying it out loud. I knew Garrus better than he would ever know me, I'd already seen and experienced his story, and he would probably never know mine. Well, at least not my full story. "I'll come with you."

He let out an audible sigh and his face contorted in what I'd come to know as a smile. With a clap on the shoulder from his talon he said, "Right kid, let's catch ourselves a rogue Spectre."

* * *

Finding a lead on Saren had proved to be a lot harder and less enjoyable than I had initially thought. Scouring the database connected to my Omnitool was tedious and tiring. Dead end after dead end.

I was half tempted to just tell Garrus what I already knew.

" _Yep. He's the bad guy. Yep, you should definitely bring him in."_

I'm sure the conversation as to how I knew this would go over well. The problem wasn't exactly that Garrus didn't know Saren was bad, it was more that he didn't know where to look.

All the information in my head was making me dizzy, I just wanted a nice, simple problem I could solve, digging around for information was not my expertise.

I let out a resigned sigh as I disengaged my omnitool, I clearly wasn't getting anywhere.

"Hey Garrus? I'm gonna pop outside for a bit, clear my head." I called behind me as I stood in the doorway, Garrus grunted in acknowledgement as I made my way towards the C-Sec exit. I ran my hands through my hair, sometimes, things in this place made my head spin, and in the back of my mind, part of me was always whispering that I _must_ be crazy. I physically shook my head as I made my way from the Lower Wards. The bustle of the Wards reminded me of my when I'd visited markets in Hong Kong as a child, I'd been holding my mother's hand and lost grip, being separated from her left a fear in me that wasn't so different from what I was feeling these days.

Edging my way through the densely populated walkway, a familiar insignia caught my eye. It was a makeshift Alliance recruitment centre, strange, considering I was quite sure there was one nearby. The stall was decked out with information and enticing propaganda. I shifted towards it, my hands tracing the face of a woman on one of the posters.

Blazing auburn hair with fair skin and eyes that spoke of sacrifice, I found myself looking at Commander Ilana Shepard. It was strange, seeing her name at the bottom of the poster, and finally getting an idea of what she looked like.

Ilana.

"Are you looking to enlist?"

"Huh?" I stammered as I looked up into the eyes of an older looking Aliiance soldier.

"Oh um, no, I don't think so." I blurted out in response to her question, quickly releasing my grip on the poster. I felt like a child who'd just been caught taking a cookie from the cookie jar. I took a step backwards, excusing myself from the stall as my eyes lingered on the form of the other Alliance soldier who was standing nearby.

It was James Vega. _Again_. I was just about to turn around and make my way back to the C-Sec HQ when his body shifted, and our eyes met. I stood there like a deer in headlights as he looked at me, I gave a sheepish smile before turning, attempting to leave.

"Wait, I know you. What did you say your name was?" Vega asked, coming a little closer. The second soldier had lost interest in me, and was currently looking for other passerby's to enlist in the Alliance.

"I didn't." I replied, perhaps a little stoicly.

Vega raised an eyebrow as his lips formed into a smirk. "Well, can I get your name now?"

I sighed. "Remy, my name's Remy. But really, I have to go."

I quickly darted into the crowd before he could elicit a response. Hopefully, by the time I made it back to C-Sec, a development would be on its way.


End file.
